Looking for a dentist just over the border in France, not Germany, as that is too far away (I have to go lots of times in the next month, starting from this week ).

Reason is I need an urgent root canal treatment and crown, so if you know anyone who is good just over the border of Swiss Romande, please let me know.

Depends on what part of France you mean. I take it you're not near Basel ... but just in case you are, talk to me before you go to any dentist in St. Louis! I had some of the absolute worst dental work you have ever seen from a guy I call the "French Butcher".

I have not heard anything much that's good about French dentists, country-wide. If you can at all afford it, go with a Swiss dentist. If you find the right one, they'll usually take payments too.

Good luck..I've had more root canals than I care to count. I understand your pain!

Thanks evilshell, I won't go anywhere near St Louis .

To be honest, with a root canal that needs redoing and subsequent crown, or maybe even worse, an implant, I cannot afford Swiss rates (especially since dental insurances here do not have high return rates once you are over say 1500 CHF or more). But thanks for the hint about the quality of French dentists, I will try to get firm recommendations!

I forgot to say I am near Lausanne and Neuchatel.

I am still looking, getting quite desperate. It can also be a dentist near Lausanne who is Swiss but costs slightly less than normal.Anyone?

Edit: ok, I went to one in Bern, he would charge 3500 CHF for an implant, does anyone know if this is cheap, normal or expensive?

I think that is probably a fair rate, that's close to what my dentist here quoted me. I live in the Jura and have a wonderful dentist that will work with you for payments - he's about 40ish minutes drive from Neuchatel.

I found him because originally I went to a French dentist [Dr Stephane ROBERT in Maiche] for a very superficial cavity on a lower molar, which he apparently didn't bother to clean properly, and it progressed into a serious health issue. After 6 months, lots of pain, a bout with trigeminal neuralgia that struck during and ruined my vacation in Spain [aka the suicide disease because of the intensity of the pain!], some neuro drugs that left me unable to drive or even think clearly, and finally a huge abscess in my lower jawbone - my GP was able to determine that the problem was dental in nature. Mr French dentist had all along insisted that all was in my head, that my Swiss doctors were incompetent, etc, to the point that he refused to see me and i ended up in a hospital on IV antibiotics. God, it was a nightmare.

My advice would be to go see a good dentist and get him to work with you on payments. That 35 Euros that I initially spent on the French dentist didn't feel like such a bargain after all was said and done. I know this sounds rather melodramatic, but really, it was an incredibly frustrating [and costly$$!] experience.

BTW, for a root canal and crown, I think the cost my Swiss dentist charged was about 900-1000 chf.

Hmm, that would be really cheap I think, maybe that was just the root canal? If not, that is a great rate!

I am sorry to hear about that mess, my story is the same, I got a huge abcess in the lower jaw because the dentist messed up a root canal job, and now the abcess is back, after another dentist tried to save the tooth but no luck.

At least I don't yet have the neuralgia, man that sounds awful. But you are right, I think people who have had the fortune not to have these large infections (which weren't our fault either) have no idea how much one dental problem can influence your health!

Can you give me his name? It can be only a surname and a region, that should be enough.

I'll pm you, Muze.

I had problem in my teeth as well. But I decided to go Istanbul and have a week holiday and found an excellent dentist over there.
I do not have any problem yet. It was very cheap over there.

Yeah, good point. I am still toying with the idea of going to Hungary to have the implant made, as they have a tourist dentistry industry there, or maybe it was one of the surrounding countries

All you need to do is fly to Antalya and go and stay in the titanic for a week - what a hotel. This is at a place called lara beach and is no more than 15 minutes drive from the airport if that. From there go back to Lara and on the junction to the airport there is an extremely good dentist. Helps if you speak Turkish although they do speak English - if you are stuck, I can write down phonetically what you need to say.

Alternatively I have a very good friend who is from England well actually India via Africa to Birmingham lives in Pforzheim, who is also a very good Dentist and did my implants. Implants do cost though no matter where you go and you can't get them done in a single sitting you need two weeks between - believe me I would have had them done in one go if it was possible...

If we are talking implant ie they cut open your gum, drill a hole in the bone and screw in a titanium plug on top of which they mount a synthetic tooth, if its that its cheap. Expect to pay 5K normally...

Thanks Richard. Yes that is the implant I am talking about, the whole lot
When you say, two weeks is that because it takes that long technically to prepare the implant or does it have to do with drilling and healing of tissue? I am asking because one week rather than two would help me a lot, so if it is technical I could ask how long it takes.

Hello Muze7

Do you have any idea on what implant and what is the technique the doctor is going to use? How long does it take depends a lot on this and on your condition.... If your bone has to heal for 6 weeks, you cannot go around this...

The implant is usually ready to, but the crown as to be custom made - specially if it is on the esthetic zone. I really would discuss this with your dentist, and ask her also what is the percentage of loss of the implants, and * her* percentage of loss, how many implants has she placed before, what technique (if it is graft/graftless)... Btw, 3.5k sounds cheap to me as well, but then again, it depends on the type of implant she is going to place.

Have you tried to check if the School of Dentisty at the Berne University can treat you? Some of the most Swiss implantologists came from their place and their practice is supposed to be good.

Take good care, and good luck.

Lucy

Thanks heaps, these are great tips. He said a something like 95-99% of implants are successful but he was talking generally, so next time I will ask how he fares!

I will also contact the Bern SO Dentistry, as I also need to find a professor who is excellent at extracting impacted wisdom teeth with a high risk of permanent nerve damage.

By the way, I asked about the schedule. My tooth has to heal three months, so the general schedule is:

• Appointment to put something into the hole (screw maybe?): 2-3 months after taking tooth out
• Appointment to take sutures out: after 1 week
• Appointment to model the crown: after 8 weeks in order to let the implant base attach to the bone
• Appointment to fix the crown: one week later (presumably it is made in a week?)

So in all, it takes around 10 weeks to have an implant done (if the tooth was out and healed already). Well, at least with this dentist.

If true, I cannot go and take a holiday abroad to do this . Oh well. (My tooth had a big hole in the bone due to an abcess, maybe that is why the implant will need eight weeks to attach.

(Had the tooth out today, I am glad it is gone!). PS. If anyone has any teeth out, if you eat pineapple every day for a week beforehand and a week after, the wound will heal about twice as fast and with a lot less swelling. If you bleed a lot, put yarrow flowers in a gauze in the hole and the bleeding will stop instantly. (I tried this today and it worked; at first I had a normal gauze but with that I bled profusely). (Yarrow is also perfect for other bleeds, like deep cuts and nosebleeds).

hello
i know a very good german dentist who is opening a new dental clinic in France, in the city of Guebwiller near Mulhouse.
I am also a dentist so i know what i'm talking about.
if u r interested:
DR. Toma Gruionu Sever,
15 Rue de la Marne, 68500, Guebwiller
tel:0033-389830453
handy:0033-631539220

Muze, sorry I saw this so late. I have an excellent dentist in Bern who is quite well known for his work and has written the book on some dental procedures. He has certainly saved me from a history of mixed dental care from Zurich to Hong Kong and points inbetween. Monday, after the three month healing period I go for stage two of an implant. I have been quoted CHF3,547.-, so your quote should also be right, and though I'm sure you can get higher quotes, you aren't likely to get lower quotes for competent work.

That said, a few years ago I went to the dental school near Insel for an emergency that was the consequence of another dentist, and a German dental professor there took excellent care of me and supported me through the following nightmare at Insel. I'll spare you the details, but you really have to watch what doctors want to do with you and stand up for yourself, as the outcome can possibly be disasterous.

In short, watch out for bargains in dentistry and parachutes.

Hi guys,

I live near lausanne and am thinking of going to ferney fo some dental work that i have been postponing. I don't want it to turn into a root canal job!

Does anyone know a good dentist there.. ? Better still do you know if there's a dentaire urgence or something.. Where i can walk in without an appointment.. Coz others give appointments for no sooner than 3 months and i really don't have the time ..

Please let me know asap if someone knows

Thanks